BIKE TOUR and LUNCH at ANTHONY BOURDAIN'S FAVORITE SPOT
Recommended by 97% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Cartagena, Colombia
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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What's Included
- Water Bottles
- LunchTasting lunch, chicken, pork, beef, fish, shellfish and vegetables; characteristic of Cartagena food and that it is very difficult to find all together outside the Bazurto Market.
- Soda/PopSoftdrink, Panela or Beer
- Use of bicycle
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Cra 20 #24-156, Manga, Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar, Colombia
We will meet in the Luna Del Mar building, in front of Carulla de Villa Susana in Barrio Manga, a very easy place to locate for any taxi driver or carrier.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Start time.11:00 am
Itinerary
1
Manga
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Bahía de Cartagena de Indias
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Fuerte de San Sebastian del Pastelillo
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Barrio Getsemani
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas (Pass By)
Monasterio de La Popa (Pass By)
5
Mercado de Bazurto
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
6
Barrio chino
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Most travelers can participate
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.9
based on 101 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
If you only have one day in Cartagena, do not hesitate to book this bike tour. We spent our only full day in the city with Gio, and it was hands-down the best decision we could have made.
Here is why this tour is a must-do:
• Expert Guiding: Gio is incredibly knowledgeable. He didn't just give us facts; he shared fun, interesting stories that really brought the history of Cartagena to life. We saw so many hidden gems and parts of the city we never would have discovered on our own.
• Beating the Heat: Cartagena is famously hot, but Gio is a pro at navigating the climate. He constantly found shady spots for us to stop and learn, and the three scheduled water breaks were absolute lifesavers.
• The Bazurto Market Lunch: The meal we had at the market was delicious and felt like a taste of local life—a real standout moment of the day.
• Safety First: I’ll be honest—cycling in Cartagena is not for the faint of heart! However, I always felt safe and calm because of Gio. He has this incredibly relaxed energy and a way of communicating with the local drivers that makes the chaos feel manageable. I never could have navigated those streets on my own, but with him leading the way, I felt totally confident.
• The Route: Most of the ride is nice and flat, with just one big hill on a bridge to get your heart racing. It’s the perfect way to cover a lot of ground quickly.
We are so glad we spent our limited time with Gio. If you want to see the real Cartagena and learn its history while having a blast, this is the tour for you!
This is a must if you want to see and get a real feel of Cartegena. You ride well tuned bikes with upgraded comfortable gel seats to several destinations with multiple stops along the way for detailed explanations of the history of the city. A visit to the market is a highlight and not something I would recommend you do on your own. A definite thumbs up.
What a wonderful way to discover Cartagena. Felt peaceful safe the entire time. Gio took great care of us and the communication about where to meet was easy. We took a cab to the meeting point but walked back to the port. Would definitely contact Gio again. He said he also does other tours so if bike riding isn’t your thing do a walking tour with him. Wish I would’ve done this day one in Cartagena because I would have known the best areas to go in town
Gio was a great guide!! He showed us the real Cartagena and took us to Anthony bourdains favorite spot. Would definitely recommend to any group!
Gio is very passionate about Colombia and that shows in his deep knowledge of local history and culture. The bike ride was pleasant, with many water breaks along the way.
Gio was a great tour guide. He was animated, funny, and very enjoyable to be with for this three hour tour. He showed us all the sights and took his time pointing out important historical landmarks throughout the bike ride. The Bazirto Market was the highlight of the trip. The meal at Cecilia's restaurant was a cornucopia of culinary delights including seafood, beef, and lamb.
Traversing the crowded streets of Cartagena was easier than we expected. We highly recommend this adventure.
The bike tour through the streets of Cartagena was a good experience. Our tour guide, Gio, was very passionate about his love of the city and he relayed his historical knowledge to us. Gio was eager to take pictures of us at all of our stops. The best part of the trip was when we went to Cecilia’s Restaurant in the Bazurto Fish Market. We got to see the real, non tourist area Cartagena and the food was amazing (no wonder Anthony Bourdain loved it). Thank you for a good time, Gio. Keep up the good work!
Spent a few hours biking with Gio. WOW!! If you want to see some crazy parts of Cartagena with a guide who knows his stuff we’d highly recommend this tour. Thanks Gio we had a memorable experience.
Gio and his fiance led the two of us on a wonderful sojourn through Cartegena. Although we're used to riding e-bikes the multi geared MTBs provided worked well on the flat terrain, with just one hill on a bridge requiring some extra exertion. The ride to Bazurto marketplace for the authentic Columbian lunch was not on the greatest roads and with traffic, but OK, and the lunch was indeed a local foodie experience. It seems like a dirty hole in the wall but I had the Mixta, some of everything, with no adverse affects! A very worthwhile experience. It's not gourmet but a taste of real Columbian home cooking. The ride towards the Barrio Getsemani was better and a fascinating spin through that upscale artsy neighborhood was the highlight. My only beef was that at that point we were close to the walled old city but did not venture there. Adding some more time to the ride to do that would make it an over the top experience. We didn't feel like taking a cab there afterwards so we missed out on seeing it. It was nice to ride to the bay for a photo op but it was a very short path along there. Also as a bicycle author I strongly recommend wearing a helmet on this ride, between the road conditions and riding amongst mostly bike unfriendly traffic it's where a helmet works the best preventing injury. We handled riding with the slow moving traffic fine but I wouldn't recommend this ride to the less savvy cyclist. All in all it was a wonderful memorable experience getting to know the real Cartagena, Gio did a great job leading, keeping us as safe as possible, and providing fascinating insight.
A really memorable few hours! Gio is passionate about Cartagena, and shares generously of his love and knowledge of its history and its people. The market is a real off-the-beaten path experience, and Getsemaní is a fascinating neighborhood that deserves to be explored and admired. In a city full of "touristy" experiences this one stood out as the most authentic and from the heart. Recommended to anyone who wants to experience the real Cartagena. Thanks Gio!
We’ve done bike tours before and if the company does not have padded seat covers for those of us who are well endowed it quickly becomes uncomfortable. It should be a serious consideration for these companies. Traveling with a padded seat cover is cumbersome. We all woke up sore. Otherwise the tour guide was informative , the sightseeing was good, and the pace was doable. The food was…..just ok.
Although we had a little bit of a hiccup finding our tour guide, once we found him, we had a fantastic day! Gio was so incredibly knowledgable of the area and its history that it was completely enthralling listening to him. Without a doubt, this was the best way to see Cartagena because we, for sure, saw areas of Cartagena that regular tourists cannot get to by bus. The market and lunch at Cecilia's was a once in a lifetime experience and the coconut rice was to die for. In addition to the less touristy areas of Cartagena that we saw, we still got to see the hot spots and bc we were on bikes, we saw them up close instead of just as a driveby. Also, Gio was not only knowledgable, he was an excellent lead rider. On several occasions, he stopped in the middle of the road to stop traffic so that we could cross safely. Although the bike riding was not for the faint of heart, it was totally worth it. I am a 60 yo not particularly athletic woman who did it successfully, so if you are even remotely interested in this tour, don't let that stop you. My only complaint of the whole trip is that the bicycle seats were small and uncomfortable for me and my husband, but we were given many opportunities for breaks which made it tolerable.
After you have gotten your fill of the walled city, see the real city with Gio. He was a great guide and we learned a lot about the people of Cartagena and saw places off the beaten path. I will mention that it involves riding in somewhat chaotic traffic without helmets, but other than that, it was one of the better tours I've been on.
It was a great bike ride around the area with a lunch at the market half way through. Nice to experience the market but you really only spend an hour there. If you’re looking for an immersive market experience maybe try a different tour. If your looking to cover a lot of ground on bike and get some interesting area history this is great.
Gio was fabulous! He was frieindly, informative and generous. We could not have had a more enjoyable day on a bike tour. We saw parts of the City that most tourists will never see. The food was excellent. The timing was perfect and had no concerns about missing our cruise ship.
Overall a fantastic experience! A bit challenging on some parts of the ride with a lot of traffic as it was a holiday (New Years Eve) but most motorists respected your space. Everything from the food to the sights along the way were great. I had so much fun touring the city on bicycle!!
It was informative and truly inspirational learning about how the average Columbian lives. The artsy neighbor was spectacular and the Market was very different and interesting from your usual markets. We had food at Cecilia's and it was good, lots of seafood everywhere. The only drawback was trying to ride the bikes in the heavy traffic, but our guides Gio and Angie were accommodating and totally hands on making the experience very memorable. Thanks for a unique experience.
We had a wonderful time and learned so much on this tour. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, entertaining, and allowed us to see areas and aspects of Cartagena that would’ve been otherwise difficult on our own. We left with a better understanding of the culture and enjoyed the food and the company thoroughly!
We had a tour this past March and had a good experience. I went along with my friend and it end up being us two for the tour, which made it even better experience. They were very accommodating and patient with our needs. We enjoyed the beauty and food of Cartagena. I would recommend this tour, but be careful based on the weather and have plenty of water. They provide water but I would also bring a back up.
Giovanni and Angelika gave my family an experience of a lifetime! We rode bikes through Getsemaní and learned about each area that we stopped at. Gio took us to the famous market where Anthony Bourdain ate at. All I can say is “what an experience”!! This is an area that only a special tour guide like Gio could take us to. He knew a lot of the people which made us more comfortable.
The bike riding is not for the faint of heart, but it is worth it to see all parts of Cartagena! I would definitely recommend the bike tour!
Jovani is friendly and knowledgeable. It was really fun to see different parts of the Cartagena culture. I would highly recommend this experience.
What a great tour! This was my second time in a year visiting Cartegena and I saw so many things this time that I didn’t see last year. Our very knowledgeable guide was great & took lots of photos of us along the way.
Thoroughly enjoyed biking through Cartagena with Gio. He's a wealth of knowledge and an interesting and engaging person. I enjoyed riding through the streets and seeing landmarks. I also enjoyed the lunch at the market.
Lunch with the 5 other people. We had a great time Sharing stories about travel and getting old. The food was excellent!!
We absolutely loved our guide Gio! Thank you for a super fun ride with so much information and delicious food. It was well thought out and we had a great time.
The best tour we’ve ever done. We’ve been on some fabulous day trips and adventures in multiple countries, and this is the only one we’ve immediately looked into doing again before we leave this beautiful part of the country.
Giovanni is a phenomenal guide and the experience of seeing the non-tourist side of Cartagena, and tasting delicious real flavours of the country in a humble and authentic atmosphere, is truly a special treat.
Do not miss this if you’re visiting Cartagena, and make sure you do it early in your trip as you will learn a lot from Giovanni about the area and where to spend your time.
Not my cup of tea!
I would not repeat this tour.
The market was very dirty and smelly.
I doubt that Anthony went to this restaurant
Response from Host, Feb 2024
We appreciate the time you have taken to leave us your comments. We invite you to explore Anthony Bouradin's videos during his trip to Cartagena and learn more about his personality as an explorer of the most typical flavors of the regions he visited. Cecilia is a restaurant classified as one of the most representative of Colombian food, especially that of Cartagena, and has been established for more than 41 years. We have had the opportunity to visit it almost every day with our participants who want to know about the real Cartagena and its culinary art, not just the one inside the wall. Among the participants we had chefs from different parts of the world. For the next occasion that you want to book a culinary experience in the style of Anthony Bouradin, I would first advise you to watch the programs and get to know this wonderful character who showed that to eat deliciously you didn't just have to go to the "fine dining restaurants."
Inside the Walled City, the next time you visit Cartagena you will have the opportunity to visit some "fine dining restaurant" most of them italians, spanish or peruvians restaurants; that meets your culinary demands, which clearly are not those of the majority of our participants and much less those of Anthony Bourdain, considered a genius of haute cuisine, but humble, which led him to explore the true flavors of Cartagena cuisine in the Bazurto Market.
Wonderful experience! So so accommodating and helpful. You can tell the guides truly love Cartagena and they just want to share the beauty of all parts of it with everyone. The biking is very manageable if you are nervous about biking in the heat/for a long time - it is not arduous and they are incredibly accommodating if you have any trouble.
Like other review say - it would be best to do this tour first day when you get to Cartagena as you will get so much helpful information and see many things you may want to revisit the rest of your trip.
This tour was absolutely amazing and everything that I was hoping it would be!!! You get to see the real Cartagena, and not all the touristy spots. On top of that, the guide, Giovanni, had some great historical facts. Dressing comfortably (in tennis shoes) is highly recommended. I wore biker shorts, a tshirt, and good tennis shoes because it’s about 2 hours of riding time. I’m so glad I did this!
Such a great alternative to the typical tour with an opportunity to see sites off the beaten tourist path.
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